Showing posts with label proud. Show all posts
Showing posts with label proud. Show all posts

Friday, 3 October 2014

Happiness is Rowing

I can't quite believe we are already in October! I've been at school now for over a month and despite not knowing what it feels like to not be tired I'm really enjoying it. I feel like I'm progressing in my subjects and I'm working so hard (that's why I haven't posted a lot recently, sorry!). Rowing is going so well too, training is tiring and difficult and I'm working harder than ever before and already I feel I'm seeing results which makes me so happy. I've also been helping to coach our new 'Freshers' which I'm enjoying so much, I may have found my possible career path!? I've been going out in the launch boat with one of my coaches and he's been giving me control of the megaphone and giving me little tips on what to tell the rowers which has been so helpful. Every time I leave the boathouse I have the biggest smile on my face and I drive home with the music blaring. It is 100% my favourite place on Earth. Being in the launch gives me a different perspective and watching people rowing, even amateurs, shows how beautiful this sport is. 

We had our first race this year, Monmouth Autumn Head and we were in all three divisions. The course was 2.3km on our home water and I was in a pair with my best friend, Emma, then a single before a mixed four. I was so excited for our pair race because we'd had two really good outings after not being in a pair since April! we had a strong, consistent race and I really felt the pushes and I heard the trickle along the boat, showing we had a good distance per stroke.


 Then, after a very short break it was time for my single which I was slightly more nervous about. I still didn't know the results of out pair race and I hadn't had the best outing the day before. However, my paddle to the start was very calm and I felt technically pretty good. Again, I had a solid race and I felt I raced harder than I had ever done before. I even heard the commentator say I was 'Sculling very nicely' as I crossed the finish line, despite not really being able to breathe! 
I love this because I can finally see muscle definition! 

Finally, came the four and I feel the less said about this race the better. We were a completely scratch mixed crew with some J16s who haven't had as much experience as the seniors. At stroke I was rushed up the slide and our balance wasn't the best. It kind of put a dampner on my day after having two amazing races and then finishing on a bad one. 

However, we went to check the results board to find out Emma and I had won the pair and I'd won my single! It was the first singles race I've ever won and I was so happy, I couldn't actually believe it at first. I had to get three people to check that I wasn't seeing things. As expected our four came last!

Unfortunately I'm on a fieldtrip when the rest of the club is attending Reading Small Boats Head and I'm so sad because I'm missing so much training in addition to missing such a lovely event and not being able to support the team! One of my coaches already said that they're sad I'm not going to be there and that made me feel even worse! :( 

I'm slightly concerned I'll lose some of my fitness or power but I'm going to go on daily runs, keep doing my core and maybe even throw in some squats, lunges etc. 


The rest of the year looks very promising, on the water, at the boathouse and in the classroom so I'm very excited. I just hope the next few months go as well as September has!

I hope your September has gone well! What are your hopes for the remainder of this year? 


Much Love
Charlotte
XO







Monday, 15 September 2014

Keeping It Brief

Being back at school has left me with little time for much else without depriving myself of sleep so this post is just a brief one to keep all my lovely readers interested! Enjoy! 
  • Making: progress
  • Cooking: healthier
  • Drinking: lots of water
  • Reading: textbooks
  • Wanting: money and peace
  • Looking: for a job and someone
  • Playing: Fireproof- One Direction
  • Deciding: on university choices
  • Wishing: people didn't fight
  • Enjoying: rowing and being with my friends
  • Waiting: for autumn and Christmas!
  • Liking: being back with all my friends
  • Wondering: too many things
  • Loving: my friends
  • Pondering: over life and all its options
  • Considering: gap year vs uni
  • Watching: youtubers!
  • Hoping: to do well this year
  • Marvelling: Over the beauty of some lyrics 
  • Needing: more clothes and make up
  • Smelling: Black Opium by YSL 
  • Wearing: Training kit and school uniform
  • Following: the path ahead
  • Noticing: I don't need to care what people think of me
  • Knowing: I can do it 
  • Thinking: about a lot
  • Feeling: pretty darn happy 
  • Admiring: beauty 
  • Sorting: my life out
  • Buying: nothing due to lack of money
  • Getting: excited for what lies ahead
  • Bookmarking: peoples blogs and furniture 
  • Disliking: rude people and boasters 
  • Opening: the most recent Rowing&Regatta magazine
  • Giggling: with my friends
  • Feeling:  excited but nervous for the future! 
Hope this wasn't too boring for you all! I'm loving blogging and i feel so guilty if I don't write anything for a long time! I have got a very exciting post planned which I hope to write this weekend! 
Thanks for reading!
Much Love
Charlotte
XO



Tuesday, 22 July 2014

Rowing Update!

Hi everyone! Thought I'd fill you in with a little rowing update! As I mentioned in my 'Life of a Rower' post I trialled for Wales in April and I've got a seat in the Women's junior coxed four and the eight for Home International Regatta this weekend! The four is my old J16 four and it feels so good to be back together! We've been training so hard and had a few wobbles and disappointing sessions but we're all so happy with how the boat is moving now. 

The eight, however, is a completely different crew comprised of girls from Kings School, Chester. Two weeks ago I went to Chester to meet them and bond with them and to try and gel as a crew. Being the only new girl in the boat was quite daunting when I arrived but thankfully a cox from my club accompanied me which made me feel a little less awkward! I was put at three but as the boat is tandem rigged I was on stroke side, opposite to my usual bow side! For the first session I was fine, we did eyes closed/eyes open and some high rate exercises e.g. half slide for 10 strokes then keep the rate up and go to full slide for 10. The next day we did more of the same, gelling as a crew and enjoying being back in an 8. However, my hands began to not enjoy the outing as much as I was and soon enough I had a large blood blister (the most unattractive thing I've ever seen) on my right hand. As I'm accustomed to bow side, altering my hands was challenging, instead of using the outside (left) hand to pull the blade in I was using my inside hand as on bow side that is my outside hand. The result of this was numerous open, painful blisters that made squaring/feathering rather difficult. 

With copious amounts of electrical tape I contiued to train with the girls. We managed to fit in some sightseeing (Chester is such a pretty place) and a lovely picnic by the river on the last day. Our last outing was going to be 500m pieces to practice the 2k. However an invisible log in the water had other ideas and decided to remove our fin before we had finished our warm up. This meant a 30 minute spin bike, 3mins @ steady state followed by 1min @ a higher gear and faster pace. It was a dramatic way to end the trip!

Now with four days to go until race day it's safe to say I'm getting nervous. We have no idea how good the competition are going to be and how we compare. I think we can be sure that we'll have a fight on our hands. I'm fed up of not getting a medal despite training so hard so fingers crossed this additional hard work will pay off! 

Thank you for reading this week's post. I'll update you on how we get on sometime next week after a day or two of continuous sleep as I know i'm going to be shattered! 

Much Love
Charlotte
xo



Monday, 16 June 2014

Wembley 7th June

Hi everyone! Hope you're all well and have been enjoying this delightful sunshine! On Friday 6th of June I ventured down to the glorious city of London with one of my best friends for a post-exam break and of course to see One Direction and 5 Seconds Of Summer.

Before going to the concert we decided to go to Westfield at White City for some window shopping and glorious food. Being a lover of halloumi and houmous the obvious choice was The Real Greek. We shared a platter and a chicken skewer and it's safe to say we were not disappointed! The meal was rounded off with a dessert that provides many memories of my World Challenge trip, BAKLAVA. Normally I don't like nuts but there is something about the honeyed sweetness of the baklava and the pastry that makes it so heavenly. I then went and bought some more at one of the stalls inside!!

Due to a lack of money the only thing I bought was a new lipstick for the end of year Summer Ball on the 28th June. After scouring for a nice pinky tone I discovered the Rimmel London Lasting Finish by Kate lipstick in shade 05. It applies smoothly and tastes delightful, perhaps a slightly cherry flavour. I wore it for the concert the next day and it stayed for at least 6 hours so I was very impressed. 

As Saturday loomed we spent the night in the bar of the hotel having a drink and listening to One Direction on repeat..well what else were we supposed to listen to?! We then went up to our room, supposedly to get an early night, instead it was spent dancing around our room to.....you guessed it more 1D and deciding on our outfits. Sleep did not come easily that night. 

Outfit choices! 
We woke on Saturday, had breakfast full of excitement and anticipation and headed to Westfield again, originally to see a film but in the end we decided to shop more, stopping at a chocolate cafe to have an iced chocolate and a free chocolate...heaven! I, regretfully, entered Urban Outfitters and wanted everything inside, the same happened with Topshop (they're on top form at the moment with their clothes) and eventually to my all time favourite bath and shower shop, Rituals. I made a little purchase of the T'ai Chi White Lotus and Green Tea foaming shower gel sensation. It smells heavenly, it had been almost a year since I purchased my last one so I felt it an essential purchase...honest. The way it lathers onto your skin is divine and the smell lingers all day. A quick stop to Nandos was of course vital before leaving. Again, I had halloumi in a chicken pitta with sweet potato mash which I loved and will definitely be having again. On the way out we stopped at HMV and I discovered One Direction tattoos so naturally I had to buy some for us to apply for the concert. 

Some of the tattoos! 
We headed back to the hotel to get ready and apply our tattoos, all whilst listening to One Direction and 5SOS. We arrived at Wembley at 4ish and queued and queued and queued. Inside we made quick necessary merchandise purchases and ran to our standing section which was already quite packed. Waiting seemed endless and crowded but the music kept us going. 5 Seconds of Summer came on around 6;30 (I think, I lost track of time!) and they were INCREDIBLE. I knew from the Take Me Home Tour they were good live but at Wembley they were on fire. So so talented and so so attractive! I felt quite proud of them, from small YouTube videos at home in Australia to Wembley Stadium in a few years is quite an achievement.
Merch!! 

5SOS
Then it was time for what I'd been waiting for for over a year. One Direction came on and I crumbled. The anticipation built as the introduction video played and as soon as I heard the intro to Midnight Memories I screamed louder and more 'girly' than I knew I could! Harry as always looked ridiculously attractive with his chiseled cheek bones, incredible dimples and general being. Liam and Harry were on point with their vocals and Niall was amazing at getting the crowd going and you could tell all 5 of them were loving every moment. Unfortunately my pictures are pretty bad quality but thanks to tumblr  I managed to find many HQ photos of the night. My videos, however, are actually quite good, although I'm yet to watch all of them. I know that the memories of the night will never fade! Twice my phone memory was full so i had to frantically delete numerous pictures and apps, fingers crossed I haven't deleted any important photos! We left the concert in considerable pain from standing continuously for 6 hours combined with jumping and dancing to the music. Being a naturally shy, anxious person I was worried I would let the crowd get the better of me and I wouldn't enjoy it as much but as soon as the music started I forgot there were 79,999 other people in the stadium! I actually spoke to quite a few people which for me is a real achievement!  
Hi Harry! 

Packed! 
Walking back from the concert I had a permanent smile on my face and kept reliving my favourite songs. I teared up a lot in Don't Forget Where You Belong, Moments, Little Things and You&I! I still relive it all now, over a week on! I cannot wait for the next time I see them live, it cements the fact that they are actually real people. That may sound quite strange but to see them 20m in front of you is quite something when you idolise them and dream about what it would be like to meet them. 

The days following the concert I had the boys blasting on full volume to get over the post-concert blues! Now I'm back at school and starting A2 level work which isn't great fun but it's lovely to be back with all my friends! 

I hope you enjoyed this post, apologise for the length again, I really enjoy writing this!! 


Much Love
Charlotte
xo


Now a few photos from the night! 



Nialllll

Cheekbones.....

<3



I loved what he was wearing! 

#Proud




Speechless 
End of the night :(